Hallmarks in history of esophageal carcinoma

Esophageal cancer is one of the deadliest cancers due to its aggressive behavior and poor survival. It was mentioned in the works of ancient Chinese and Arabo-islamic physicians, centuries before the recognition of high incidence in the Asian esophageal cancer belt. Till the 19th century the disease was considered incurable and the main goal of the proposed treatments was to alleviate dysphagia and pain. The introduction of esophagoscope in 1868 by Adolf Kussmaul (1822-1902) contributed to the observation of the living esophagus and to the diagnosis of esophageal pathologies, paving the way for new therapeutic approaches. In 1877, Vincenz Czerny (1842-1916) performed the first successful resection of the cervical esophagus for carcinoma, followed by Franz Torek (1861-1938) who carried out in 1913 the first successful subtotal thoracic esophagectomy and Tohru Ohsawa (1882-1984) who performed the world's first esophagectomy with an intrathoracic esophagogastric anastomosis. Nowadays, despite the advent of biomedical technology and the development of operation techniques, the surgical treatment of esophagus still remains a challenge.